The present invention relates to a modular refrigeration and/or freezer appliance in accordance with the introduction to the main claim. In particular, it relates to the structure of a refrigeration and/or freezer appliance or the like, and to its components, which are such as to render the structure sectional and adaptable to the most varied requirements.
As known to the expert of the art, known refrigeration appliance structures are formed from a plurality of panels and profile bars joined together by screw means or by injected insulating material (foam) made to expand between said panels and profile bars; the same insulating material maintains the panels and profile bars joined together. This involves considerable assembly times and high costs in terms of the labour required to handle a large number of pieces and to properly assemble them.
A first problem derives from the fact that the means for coupling the various module components together are such that once the refrigeration or freezer appliance has been assembled, it cannot be easily disassembled.
In addition, alignment between the various module components, for example in the case of assembly by means of foam, is particularly critical and must be delegated to expert qualified, and hence costly, personnel possibly using templates or support jigs.
Moreover, the structure of such refrigerators, being based on a number of structural parts joined together to form a frame, does not present good structural rigidity as the connections between the various panels are delegated merely to the injected insulating material.
In addition, the joining together of various structural parts typically results in a worsening of the thermal insulation of the cabinet, as the connections between the various panels introduce material continuity between the external environment and the interior of the refrigerated compartment, resulting in poorer insulation characteristics than commonly used expanded materials, hence giving rise to thermal bridges which increase heat transfer between the external environment and the thermally insulated compartment.
DE 1911903 describes a horizontal modular refrigerator cabinet consisting of a plurality of U-shaped structural modules of rigid foamed material disposed horizontally side by side such that the side walls of each U-shaped module define the upper and lower walls of the refrigerator cabinet. The refrigeration compartment is closed frontally by doors and laterally by flat panels of the same material with which the modules are made. The said patent does not provide details of how such flat panels are fixed to the ends of the U-shaped modules, which are abuttingly joined to each other. Moreover, such a type of cabinet is suitable more for commercial use (bars, beer houses, etc.) than for domestic use, as the U-shaped elements define a sort of refrigerated counter.